Who Will They Play? A Possible Indiana Pacers Playoff Teaser
By William Furr
The Cleveland Cavaliers
The scouting report: Likely 1st seed. Pacers would not have home court advantage. The Cavs fired their coach David Blatt midway through the year and replaced him with Tyronn Lue, who is in his first season as an NBA head coach. Despite the turmoil, the Cavs look poised to start the playoffs in the 1 seed, and would be the prohibitive favorite to win the East and return to the NBA Finals.
Pros: The Pacers and Frank Vogel are very familiar with LeBron James in the Eastern Conference playoffs. All 3 games this year have been close, with no game decided by more than 5 points and 1 overtime game as well.
Cons: The Cavaliers have LeBron James, Kyrie Irving, and Kevin Love. The Pacers do not. Despite all 3 games being close, the Pacers have lost all 3. The Pacers have never eliminated a LeBron James-led team from the playoffs.
The Prediction: The Pacers are capable of playing Cleveland tight, and making them work each and every game, but they’re unlikely to beat the Cavs 4 times in 7 games, especially without home court advantage.
Next: The Toronto Raptors